Which moment in RFC history do you wish you could erase?

[WoodleyRoyal]

tom jones broken leg at elm park you heard the snap from the southbank shudders

[Stuka]

Andre Bikey disrespecting the shirt by throwing it on the ground like a spoilt child during a play off game vs Burnley.

[WoodleyRoyal]

was funny though

[donface]

No 13. Reading fans everywhere

[Elm Park Kid]

Without a doubt McDermott getting fired in March 2013.

We would have still gone down, still sold players and still might have ended up firing him. But at least we could have shown the man some respect.

It would have saved us from the Adkins period and Brian from the mess at Leeds.

[No Fixed Abode]

The seat throwing incident at Brighton

[Christof]

Hearing Don't Stop Believing played as 'our song' before the Play-Off Final at Wembley, and the Swansea fans (rightfully) extracting the Michael as we sat there thinking WTF? That's why we were 3 down after 30 minutes...

[Hoop Blah]

The day(s) that the club bottled out of getting into Europe.

[notloyalenuffroyal]

tom jones broken leg at elm park you heard the snap from the southbank shudders

Surely we can't let that pass without a....


WELL, THAT'S NOT UNUSUAL.

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Without a doubt McDermott getting fired in March 2013.

We would have still gone down, still sold players and still might have ended up firing him. But at least we could have shown the man some respect.

It would have saved us from the Adkins period and Brian from the mess at Leeds.

Agree with this. What made it even worse is that so much of our support wanted him out. He and the 2012 champ winning players massively over achieved yet that wasn't good enough for some. It was almost as if they were embarrassed by him. He was mocked by his own supporters during his last game v Villa and summed up painfully how much RFC has changed in the last decade. You knew he would get the chop after that and that's pretty much the day that I fell out of love with the club after 30 years.

[Man Friday]

Without a doubt McDermott getting fired in March 2013.

We would have still gone down, still sold players and still might have ended up firing him. But at least we could have shown the man some respect.

It would have saved us from the Adkins period and Brian from the mess at Leeds.

Agree with this. What made it even worse is that so much of our support wanted him out. He and the 2012 champ winning players massively over achieved yet that wasn't good enough for some. It was almost as if they were embarrassed by him. He was mocked by his own supporters during his last game v Villa and summed up painfully how much RFC has changed in the last decade. You knew he would get the chop after that and that's pretty much the day that I fell out of love with the club after 30 years.

+1. Cr@p, spoilt, so-called "fans". Don't agree, however, that we would still have gone down although I would say that it was probable. But what feckin' chance did he have with £2.5m? None whatsoever. Well done, Anton, you complete and utter child.

[leon]

Great posts.

[bcubed]

The day(s) that the club bottled out of getting into Europe.

Yeh good shout

I said "failing to invest causing relegation first time round," but this was where the rot set in. And it must have been deliberate policy - I remember discussing with a Bolton fan at the time, about four games from the end and he just assumed we were in Europe already

[under the tin]

The day(s) that the club bottled out of getting into Europe.

Yeh good shout

I said "failing to invest causing relegation first time round," but this was where the rot set in.

Agreed.
When Coppell and Co. went public in dismissing any interest whatsoever in competing, I remember thinking that it was a serious PR own goal, not only in terms of the message it sent to the fans, but crucially, also to the existing playing staff, who presumably drew conclusions about the limits of the club's ambitions, and thereby, how far they could further their own careers here.
Equally, IMHO, new staff recruitment was damaged by the same message. Competitive sportspeople are ambitious.

[Handsome Man]

The day(s) that the club bottled out of getting into Europe.

Yeh good shout

I said "failing to invest causing relegation first time round," but this was where the rot set in. And it must have been deliberate policy - I remember discussing with a Bolton fan at the time, about four games from the end and he just assumed we were in Europe already

If only we had decided to win against Blackburn...

[Winchester Royal]

The day(s) that the club bottled out of getting into Europe.

Yeh good shout

I said "failing to invest causing relegation first time round," but this was where the rot set in. And it must have been deliberate policy - I remember discussing with a Bolton fan at the time, about four games from the end and he just assumed we were in Europe already

If only we had decided to win against Blackburn...

It was more about the 2-0 home defeat to relegated Watford that would have likely made 7th a safe bet.

[tidus_mi2]

Not forgetting we chose not to apply for that Intertoto Cup position that went in the end to Blackburn who finished 2 places below us (Portsmouth didn't apply for the Intertoto Cup either).

[Vision]

Coppell got a bit spooked talking to George Burley at Ipswich who claimed qualifying for Europe ruined his young Ipswich team. That said any suggestion we deliberately didn't try in the last two games so we failed to qualify is on a par with the "Madejski told the players not to beat Bolton in the Wembley play-offs because he couldn't afford promotion" nonsense.

I can see the point about the message not taking the Intertoto spot sends out but I think it's overplayed as a factor with regards to our relegation that season.

I think the biggest single factor (in reality relegations happen for a number of reasons rather than just one defining one) was we lost our nerve in the 2nd half of the season. I put that down to the 6-4 defeat at Tottenham. The Portsmouth game could have been attributed as a one-off thing that can happen from time to time but when it happens a second time then it becomes ingrained in the players. We had built success on attacking wide play, full backs bombing on and attacking with absolute conviction. After that Tottenham game the majority of players just went into their shells and the full backs barely crossed the half way line.

So if I could erase just game then I think that Spurs game would be the one.

[Royalwaster]

Coppell got a bit spooked talking to George Burley at Ipswich who claimed qualifying for Europe ruined his young Ipswich team. That said any suggestion we deliberately didn't try in the last two games so we failed to qualify is on a par with the "Madejski told the players not to beat Bolton in the Wembley play-offs because he couldn't afford promotion" nonsense.

I can see the point about the message not taking the Intertoto spot sends out but I think it's overplayed as a factor with regards to our relegation that season.

I think the biggest single factor (in reality relegations happen for a number of reasons rather than just one defining one) was we lost our nerve in the 2nd half of the season. I put that down to the 6-4 defeat at Tottenham. The Portsmouth game could have been attributed as a one-off thing that can happen from time to time but when it happens a second time then it becomes ingrained in the players. We had built success on attacking wide play, full backs bombing on and attacking with absolute conviction. After that Tottenham game the majority of players just went into their shells and the full backs barely crossed the half way line.

So if I could erase just game then I think that Spurs game would be the one.

Also think that a lot comes down to the fact that SC built his success on having quality wingers and we just didn't have that with Glen out injured especially down the right; and Hunt just couldn't do it on his own ...

[Hoop Blah]

Coppell got a bit spooked talking to George Burley at Ipswich who claimed qualifying for Europe ruined his young Ipswich team. That said any suggestion we deliberately didn't try in the last two games so we failed to qualify is on a par with the "Madejski told the players not to beat Bolton in the Wembley play-offs because he couldn't afford promotion" nonsense.

I can see the point about the message not taking the Intertoto spot sends out but I think it's overplayed as a factor with regards to our relegation that season.

I think the biggest single factor (in reality relegations happen for a number of reasons rather than just one defining one) was we lost our nerve in the 2nd half of the season. I put that down to the 6-4 defeat at Tottenham. The Portsmouth game could have been attributed as a one-off thing that can happen from time to time but when it happens a second time then it becomes ingrained in the players. We had built success on attacking wide play, full backs bombing on and attacking with absolute conviction. After that Tottenham game the majority of players just went into their shells and the full backs barely crossed the half way line.

So if I could erase just game then I think that Spurs game would be the one.

I think the clubs (Coppell's??) lack of ambition made the players realise that they'd done as much as they could at Reading and that was the start of the end. We didn't get the same level of performance from most of them that next season and I'd put that partly down to the lack of drive to kick on further as much as a bit of second season syndrome or injuries etc.

As an example of the effect, would Scott Brown has signed for us instead of Celtic had we been in Europe and showing a bit of real ambition?